Ever wonder what it’s like for those people who live in places where there’s no winter? Are they like, the happiest people on the planet? Because right about this time of year, I start to feel as if one more snowpocalyptic event will defeat me and I’ll just revert to a bear-like state of torpor until April. (Hey, also, ever wonder what it’s like to be a bear? It sounds pretty good. Mostly the sleeping-all-winter part, and the pre-sleeping gorging part, and the generally being the Boss of the Forest part.)
Everyone has some way of handling the winter blahs, whether it’s exercising more, taking Vitamin D supplements, eating a lot of soup, or sticking their face in front of some overpriced UV lamp they bought on the Internet for ten minutes a day. The solution that has evolved for me and my friends is our annual Not New Year’s Eve party (or NNYE). The origins of this event had nothing to do with curing seasonal affective disorder. Rather, it was our chance to get together after the craziness of the holidays, since most of us were preoccupied with family stuff or out of town and everyone tended to have diverging New Year’s Eve plans.
The ritual includes cramming into my friend Rebecca’s cozy apartment, having a gift exchange (the good kind, with stealing and yelling), cueing up NYE countdowns from years past on YouTube and executing them at random intervals, and eating our faces off as if it’s still the holidays. There are also usually Christmas crackers and stupid hats, and sometimes fake moustaches. I think one year there was a fake nose. Photo shoots resulting in unpostable material usually ensue.
Each year we keep pushing the date back, so that now it sits right around mid-February (it’s recently been renamed NNYEVE: Not New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s or Easter). While this delay was probably more due to people’s busy schedules, I like to think it’s because we all know that this weekend, the axis of evil between Valentine’s Day and the end of winter, is the weekend when we really need this party. It gives us something to look forward to after Christmas, it wakes us out of our hibernation and it marks the beginning of the final sprint towards spring.
So my advice for fighting off the sadness of winter is, predictably, to have a party. Whether it’s a sit-down potluck or more of an appetizers-for-dinner soiree, nobody will be mad at you for bringing a main course. And friends, I can’t believe I haven’t devoted one single column yet to braised meat — one of my favourite things to serve up on a cold blustery day.
Braising is really just a method of cooking something by searing it first on high heat, followed by a gentle cook in some kind of liquid, usually covered. It’s a great way to treat cheaper cuts of meat that benefit from long cooking times, but you can also braise some meats in under an hour with excellent results. Bone-in, skin-on chicken is one of my favourite things to braise because it’s inexpensive and flavourful, it cooks quickly and it’s incredibly versatile. I prefer dark meat, but you could use a mix of breast and leg meat if you want (see here for a fascinating article on why people tend to hate on dark meat, which has always baffled me).
This recipe starts and ends with bacon, and provides a comforting, creamy mushroom and leek sauce to pour over the chicken. However, there are endless variations of this recipe: sometimes I’ll throw a can of tomatoes into the braising liquid, sometimes I’ll make a creamier Dijon sauce with peppercorns, sometimes I will substitute other vegetables (kale, carrots, celery, fennel, lentils, whatever I’ve got in the crisper). Serve with some crusty baguette, or over rice, mashed potatoes or polenta.
Braised Chicken with Leeks and Mushrooms
Serves 4, or 8 as part of a potluck
4-6 slices thick cut bacon, roughly chopped
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (drumsticks and thighs are my preference)
2 leeks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 cups cremini or shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/3 cup heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful chopped flat-leaf parsley (for garnish)
1. Trim excess fat from chicken, pat dry and sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. In a large wide pan or a Dutch oven that has a cover, gently cook bacon on medium-low heat until fat renders and it starts to crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, reserving about 2 tbsp of bacon fat in the pan.
3. On medium-high heat, brown the chicken pieces in the pan until golden brown, turning once, about 5 minutes total. Do this in batches if you need to; you don’t want to crowd the chicken. Remove chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.
4. Drain excess chicken fat so only about 2 tbsp remain. Reduce to medium heat. Add leeks and garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes, until leeks begin to soften. Add mushrooms and stir to coat, cooking another 5 minutes until softened.
5. Add wine (if using), stock, bay leaf and thyme. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Return chicken to pot, skin side up, ensuring it is nestled in the liquid. Cover and cook on low heat until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear, about 25-30 minutes. You may also transfer the pot to a 350F oven instead if you want to free up stove space.
6. Remove chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm. Add cream to braising liquid (if using). Gently simmer (do not boil!) until the liquid is reduced and thickened (I usually add a slurry of a couple teaspoons of flour or cornstarch dissolved in a bit of water to help it thicken up). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken family-style on a large platter, with braising liquid spooned over and bacon and parsley sprinkled on top.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday here on lawandstyle.ca.